Wringer and the like



March 23, 1943.

w. KAUFFMAN, 2D

WRINGER AND THE LIKE- Filed Qct. 5, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 23, 1943. w. L KAUFFMAN, 2D 1 2,314,708

WRINGER AND THE LIKE Filed Oct. 5, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 23, 1943 w. L KAUFFMAN, 2D

WRINGER AND THE LIKE Filed cm. 5, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 imvsm'on ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 23, 1943 2,314,708 WRINGER AND THE LIKE Walter L. Kauflman, 11, Erie, Pa., .assignor to Lovell Manufacturing Company, Erie, Pa., a I corporation of Pennsylvania Application October 5, 1939, Serial No. 298,100

11 Claims.

Power wringers and the like are usually supplied with safety devices. Many of such wingers are provided with indexing mechanisms by which the device may be swung to different angles and be operative in each position.

Safety devices are of two general types, one releasing pressure from the mechanism, and the other disconnecting the drive mechanism. It is desirable to retain the indexing mechanism in locked position during the time the driving connection is acting, and it is also desirable ordinarily to lock the release mechanism while the wringer is in neutral with relation to the drive mechanism so that there will not be a release movement unless desiredand when the driving mechanism is disconnected.

This mechanism is particularly desirable in connection with so-called instinctive releases, that is, releases operating in response to a movement of the wringer. The invention i intended to accomplish these desirable functions. Features and details of the invention will appear from the specification and claims.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings as follows:

Fig. 1 shows a front elevation of a wringer partlyin section.

Fig. 2 a section on the line 22 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3--3 in Fig. 1 showing the driving mechanism set at neutral.

Fig. 4 a similar view with the driving mechanism in driving position.

Fig. 5 a section on the line 5-5 in Fig. 1 with the driving mechanism set at neutral.

Fig. 6 a similar section with the driving mechanism set at driving position.

Fig. 7 a plan view looking from the bottom, of one end of the top bar.

Fig. 8 a similar view with the parts in release position.

Fig. 9 a section on the line 9-9 in Fig} 7.

Fig. 10 a section on the line Ill-I 'in Fig. 8.

Fig. 11 shows a top view of the control mechanism with the top of the case removed and with the wringer at central position and the driving,

connection set.

Fig. 12 a similar view with the wringer offset to a release position.

I marks a base of a wringer frame, 2 and 2a stiles extending upwardly from the base, the

parts as shown being of stamped metal and the stiles being hollow. 3 a top member or top bar of the frame. Rolls 4 and are mounted in the frame.

and 1 respectively. The lower shaft 6 extends into a pressure stop device which is adapted to stop the rolls when the pressure on the rolls is released.

This particular pressure stop forms no part of this invention,- but is similar to that shown in Patent No. 2,123,850issued to me July 12, 1938. This roll stop has an automatic clutching member 8, conical in shape, in which the shaft 6 is journaled and the end of this conical member has notches 9 adapted to receive pins III in the shaft 6. The conical surface of the member 8 is journaled in a bearing ll mounted in one of the side stiles, the opposite end having the usual shaft hearing. The member 8 is hollow and has a spring 12 which tends to force it toward release -position,.and the conical surface, when pressure is exerted, moves the member 8 into engagement with the pin. In this way the roll drive is stopped automatically if the pressure is released.

The upper shaft! is journaled in bearings l3 which are slidingly mounted in the side stiles. A spring I4 rests on the bearings and an adjusting screw I5 is mounted in the top bar 3 and adjusts the pressure of the spring;

A reset lever I6 is pivotally secured at one end of the top bar 3. It is connected by a link [8 v to the side stile, the link I8 being pivotally mount- These rolls are provided with shafts 6 ed at l9 to the side stile and at 20 to the reset lever. The pivots [1, I9 and 20 are slightly out of line so as to provide a stable position when the reset lever is in set position. v

A release handle 2| is hinged on the reset lever and rests on an abutment 22 at the upper end of the lever so that when pressure is delivered downwardly on the lever 2|, the reset lever is moved to unstable position to eiiect a release of the. top bar, the hinge between'the lever 2| and the reset lever permitting the continued movement of the reset lever to effect a release.

The end of the top bar at the driving end of the wringer is also provided with a release device. This includes a latch 23 which has side flanges 23a and a connecting plate 231). The flanges 23a have V-shaped slots 24, and the latch is pivoted on a pin 25 which extends throughthe' sides of the top bar and through the slots 24. The latch has a shoulder 26 which engages an upper wall 21 of a notch 28 in the side stile so that when the latch is locked in position, the top is locked with the stile.

A spring 29 is provided on a loose .pin 30 between the top bar and the latch and yieldingly swings the latch into set position. The latch has a release finger 230 at its inner end and this is engaged by a return bend 3| on a release lever 32. The release lever is pivoted on a screw 33, the screw extending into the top bar. The outer end of the latch lever extends through the end of the top bar and has a downwardly extending engaging portion 34 by which the latch lever is operated in a manner hereinafter described.

A gear head 35 has a swivel extension 36 which is journaled in a top 31 of the usual post on which the wringer is mounted. The wringer is supported from the gear head by means of links 38, these links being pivotally secured to the gear head by pins 39 which extend through the top and bottom links and the inner ends of these links are secured to the wringer by pins 40 which extend through the links and through flanges 4| on a mounting plate 42.

The member 8 extends into a coupling sleeve 43 which is provlded'with slots 44 receiving pins 45 on the member 8. Pins 46 engage theopposite end of the sleeve 43, these pins extending through a shaft 41. The shaft 41 is journaled in bearings 48 in the head, and reversing gears shaft. The gears have clutch detents 50 on their inner faces adapted to engage clutch jaws 51 on a clutch block 52. The clutch block has the usual groove which is engaged by an eccentric pin 53 mounted on a shaft 54.

The shaft 54 is journaled in a bearing 55 in the head. The shaft has an extension 54a which extends through a case 56 which is fixed with relation to the head. The upper end of the extension 5411 has a reversing or operating handle 51.

By operating the handle and turning the shaft 54, the eccentric pin operating in the groove moves the block from one reverse gear toward the other or places it between the gears or in neutral so that neither gear is driven. The gears 49 mesh with a gear 43a which is fixed ,on the upper end of a vertical drive shaft 4% and are driven from some source of power, usually the same power as drives the washing machine with which the wringer is associated.

A lever 58 is pivotally mounted by a screw 58 on the head 35. It is provided with a slot 60 in which operates an eccentric 6! carried by the shaft 54a so that as the handle 51 is swung from driving position to neutral, the lever 58 is swung, having a neutral position at the center and driving positions at each side of the center, one driving position being shown in Fig. 4. The lever extends outwardly within the case and is provided with a downwardly extending end 62, the lower end of which has a slot 63, the slot 63 registering with an upwardly extending end 64 of a detent and index lever 65 when the lever 53 is in neutral. The detent and indexlever is pivoted on a pin 66 secured in the head and has a forwardly extending finger 61 which engages index notches 68 in the upper end of the post 31.

A plate 69 having slots is secured to the under side of the top of the'case 56 by screws 1|, the plate in this way being slidingly mounted on -the case. The outer end of the plate is in position to be engaged by a cam 12 mounted on the extension 54a.

when the shaft 54 is in neutral the cam 12 is centered in the position shown in Fig. 2 and has moved the plate inwardly. The inner end of the plate 69 has a notch13, an end 14 of the notch extending over the sides of the stile 2a, thus locking the wringer against forward or back movement with relation to the head. A spring 49 are opposingly mounted and locked with the 15 anchored at 16 on the plate 69 and on a pin 11 secured to the top of the case 56 yieldingly withdraws the plate so as to disengage the ends I4 from the stile. The plate is provided with a slot 18 to accommodate this movement of the plate.

The end 34 of the lever 32 extends through a notch 34a in the top of the case 56 so that if .the wringer is pulled or pushed from its central position, the lever 32' is swung to carry the end 3| of! the finger 23c and allow the latch to release the top bar. By looking the wringer frame against such movement, the instinctive release, as it is called, that is a release responsive to a movement of the wringer frame, is locked.

In the operation of the device, when the wringer is in neutrai, that is to say the rolls are stationary, the index lever may be operated so as to release the wringer and the wringer swung to the desired operation and the index lever returned, locking it in that position. The pressure on the top bar is set through the reset lever and the screw, as desired, ordinarily merely the operation of thereset lever.

When it is desired to operate the wringer, the handle 51 is operated, throwing the driving mechanism into operation in either direction desired. As the handle 51 is swung to start the driving connection, the lever 58 is swung, carrying the slot 63 out of register with the end 64 so that during the driving operation the indexing device is locked. It will be apparent that the means for locking the index against release with the wringer drive in driving relation has contact with a vertical surface of the index device.

On the other hand, the swinging of the handle 51 and consequently the cam 12 has permitted the withdrawal of the locking plate 69 so that the wringer is free to move forward or back in response to a pull or push on the wringer so that the top bar may be released by such movement so as to relieve the pressure (see Figs. 11 and 12) If the pressure is released thus by the instinctive v action, the pressure is not only taken off the rolls, but through the stop mechanism including the member 3, the drive connection to the rolls is broken so that the rolls stop.

What I claim as new is:

1. In a wringer or the like having a frame; rolls mounted in the frame; pressure means for the rolls; a driving head on which the frame is mounted; a release device for relieving pressure on the rolls; reversing gears driving the rolls; and means controlling the gears having neutral and driving positions; the combination with the means controlling the gears and the release device of devices locking the release device against release action whenever the wringer drive is in neutral.

2. In a wringer or the like having a frame; rolls mounted in the frame; pressure means for the rolls; a driving head on which the frame is mounted; a release device for relieving pressure on the rolls; reversing gears driving the rolls;

and means controlling the gears having neutral and driving positions; the combination with the means controlling the gear and the release device of devices locking the release device against release action whenever the wringer drive is in neutral; and an auxiliary pressure release for releasing the pressure.

3. In a wringer or the like having a frame;

' rolls mounted in the frame; pressure means for the rolls; a movable driving head on which the driving positions; and an index means for locking the head against movement; I the combination with said means controlling the gears and the release device of devices locking the release device against release action whenever the wringer drive is in neutral; and devices locking the index means against action when the wringer is in driving relation.

4. In a wringer or the like having a frame comprising a detachable top bar; rolls mounted in the frame; pressure means for the rolls ex.- erting pressure from the top bar; a driving head on which the frame is mounted; a release device for releasing the top bar to release pressure on the rolls; reversing gears driving the rolls; and means'controlling the gears having neutral and driving positions; the combination with the means controlling the gears of devices locking the release device against release action whenever the wringer drive is'in neutral.

5. In a wringer or the like having a frame; rolls mounted in the frame; a pressure means for the rolls; a movable driving head on which the frame is movably mounted; reversing gears driving the rolls; means controlling the gears having neutral and driving positions; and an index means for locking the head against movement; the combination with the means controlling the gears and the index means of an instinctive release device actuated by a relative movement of the frame and head; devices locking the instinctive release device against release action whenever the wringer drive is in neutral; and devices locking the index means against action when the wringer is in driving relation.

6. In a wringer or the like having a frame; rolls mounted in the frame; a pressure means for the rolls; a driving head; a paralleling connection between'the head and the wringer permitting a movement of thewringer while maintaining the wringer in different positions parallel to a common plane; an instinctive release actuated by the relative movement of the frame and head through the paralleling connection; reversing ears driving the rolls; and means controlling the gears having neutral and driving positions; the combination with said paralleling connection, means controlling the gears and instinctive release of devices locking the instinctive release against action whenever the wringer drive is in neutral '7. In a wringer or the like having a frame;

rolls mounted in the frame; a pressure means for the rolls; a driving head; a paralleling connection between the head and the wringer permitting a movement of the wringer while maintaining the wringer in different positions parallel to a common plane; reversing gears driving the rolls; means controlling the gears having neutral and driving positions; and an index device controlling the position of the head; the combination with said means controlling'the gear and the index device of an instinctive release actufor the rolls; a driving head on which the frame ated by the relative movement of the frame and head through the paralleling connection and l means-having contact with a vertical surface of tion.

8. In a wringer or the like having a frame;

rolls mounted in the frame; a pressure means for the rolls; a driving head; a paralleling connection between the head and the wringer permitting a movement of the wringer while maintaining the wringer in different positions parallel to a common plane; an instinctive release actuated by the relative movement of the frame and head through the paralleling connection; reversing gears driving the rolls; means controlling the gears having neutraland driving positions; and an index device controlling the positionof the head; the combination with said instinctive release, means controlling the gears and the index device of devices locking the instinctive release against release action with the wringer drive in neutral; and means locking the index against release with the wringer drive in drivingrelation.

9. In a wringer or the like having a frame; rolls mounted in the frame; a pressure means is swiveled; a release device for the pressure device; and reversing gears driving the rolls; the combination with the release device and reversing gear of meansabove the head for controlling the reversing gears comprising a control shaft putting the gears in neutral or in driving position; and devices locking the release device actuated from the control shaft against release action whenever the wringer drive is in neutral.

10. In a wringer or the like having a frame; rolls mounted in the frame; pressure means for the rolls; a driving head on which the frame is mounted; a release device actuated by a relative movement of the frame and head; reversing gears driving the rolls; and means controlling the gears having neutral and driving positions; the combination with the release device and means controlling the gears of means actuated by the controlling means locking the frame against movement relatively to the head.

11. In a wringer or the like having a frame; rolls mounted in the frame; pressure means for the rolls; an adjustable driving head on which the frame is mounted; reversing gears driving the rolls; means controlling the gears having neutral and driving positions; means actuated by the controlling means locking the frame against movement relatively to the head; and an indexing device locking the head as adjusted:

the combination with the controlling means and WALTER L. mum; n. 

